You Car Is Greedy For Personal Data, But Thankfully You Can Probably Delete It Many new cars on the road have some form of connected tech built in, and while the convenience of remote smartphone access is certainly welcome, the data harvesting happening in the background isn't. Hooking up your phone, using in-car services, or creating a driver profile often requires granting the vehicle access to your data. Automakers' privacy policies often bury the specifics about their data collection practices, ranging from location data to driving behavior. What's collected and how it's used varies between make and model, but it's not uncommon to see brands share data with advertising and insurance companies. General Motors recently got into hot water with the Federal Trade Commission when it shared driver information with third-party data brokers without consent. In a 2023 study, the Mozilla Foundation went through the privacy policies of 25 car brands and found that cars are the worst product category when it comes to privacy. And according to the Electronic Frontier Foundation — a non-profit championing digital privacy and free speech — it's nearly impossible to track the exact whereabouts and usage of the data your car collects. The DRIVER Act is a step in the right direction, as it requires car companies to allow owners access to all the data collected. But until the bill is signed into law, you might have to rely on third-party solutions – such as Privacy4Cars' Vehicle Privacy Report – to get a better sense of the data your car collects. Thankfully, there are ways you can delete the stored data. But the process can be a bit of a rigmarole. Managing your data Your car may not be very good at protecting your data, but if you live in a state with stronger